Trimming Eucalyptus Trees - Why and How

We recently trimmed some eucalyptus in Rancho Santa Fe, called Iron Bark Eucalyptus. And since I am starting this new thing of writing a blog, I’ve been collecting photos and videos, and I gotta admit it’s really a lot of fun. I did get the before and after shots of these trees. Here is one tree before trimming:

Let me just confess something right here. Back in the days when I was “starting out,” I probably should have pursued being a writer, not a tree guy. But, things happen in life, and it turns out I haven’t done any writing in years. But when this marketer guy recently told me I had to make a blog, and that THEY were going to write it, I was like huh?

“How are you going to write in a field you know nothing about?” I asked him.

And he told me they do research, and blah, blah, blah. So in other words, they are going to write some dry pile of garbage, with no relevant photos, videos or frame of reference. Anyway, since I had that convo with the guy, I have been churning out these posts, and I’m just totally digging it.

Anyway back to business. I am new at all this blogging, that is the point. And what I failed to document by photo is that the eucalyptus had broken a branch, that had crashed down on the tile roof of their little tool shed.

Cause that’s what these trees do, particularly this variety, the Ironbark. They are weak as can be, and they just like to break branches off. That’s a favorite hobby of theirs, I guess.

So you have to safety prune eucs, sort of lighten the load on their branches. Some people go radical, and top them off severely, but this is frowned on (severely) by the arborist community, and I also don’t think it is totally necessary.

Eucalyptus Trees Are Stronger After Trimming

You can see here that the tree has been “lightened,” i.e. overall weight has been reduced, some branches shortened, including the height to some degree.

This will allow it to sustain itself, most hopefully without any more broken branches. At least for awhile. This is the kind of tree that has to be tended to every so often.

These 2 Photos Are 1 Clump Of Trees

Here Are The Trees After

Notice how much shorter these trees are after they were trimmed, and they still look fairly natural.

Especially on the right side, where the branches grew like suckers, they had to be shortened in a manner that would be called “topping,” but in this case, there is no other alternative.

Altogether a satisfying project!

Seeing Examples of Trimming

It is a great idea to see other examples of before and after trimming. In our case, we have some on this page. You can also learn more about what makes good (and bad) trimming there.